The Importance of Being Earnestby Oscar Wilde

This masterpiece may be the most famous of all comedies. It revolves wittily around the most ingenious case of “manufactured” mistaken identity ever put into a play. Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest follows Jack, a country bachelor who goes by the name Ernest when he pops into the city; and his friend Algernon, who seeks a thrill by becoming Ernest in the country. Jack proposes to Gwendolen Fairfax while Algernon, posing as Jack’s wicked brother Ernest, falls in love with Jack’s ward, Cecily. Oscar Wilde was a master of social farce, and aristocratic Victorian men often provided fodder for works like The Importance of Being Earnest.

The Importance of Being Earnest ran October 14-16, 27, 29, 2011 in the MainStage Theater